There was no great bravura finale, but then Rubin Kazan have long eschewed the dramatic. As Spartak lost 3‑2 to CSKA, Rubin's goalless draw against Zenit was enough to seal their second successive Russian title, and perhaps eliminate some of the concerns that clouded last year's triumph.

Further achievement may await them this week: if they can beat Dynamo Kyiv at home tonight, and Barcelona lose at home to Internazionale, they will become the first eastern European side since Lokomotiv Moscow six seasons ago to reach the knockout stage of the Champions League, which should restore at least a little pride to Russian football after the national team's failure to qualify for the World Cup finals.

Rubin stuttered in the autumn, losing three in a row, leading to concerns as to whether they could cope with the twin demands of European and domestic competition, but four consecutive wins consolidated their position as Spartak, their main challengers, wobbled.

Spartak's season, really, was undermined by the miserable start they endured before Michael Laudrup's dismissal as manager in April, but that will do little to ease the suffering of their goalkeeper Soslan Dzhanaev.

He is 22 and has great potential, but on Saturday he compounded the error he made a fortnight ago against Krylya Sovetov by allowing a last-minute Tomas Necid strike to squirm through his fingers, gifting CSKA a 3‑2 win and effectively extinguishing Spartak's last remaining hope of catching Rubin. Hopefully he, and an exciting young Spartak team, will recover to build on the promise of this season.

Rubin, though, are worthy champions, probably worthier than last season. Then, even many of those who disregarded the darker rumours were often dismayed by the functionality of their approach. This season, with a game remaining, they have already scored 15 goals more than they managed last season, while conceding five fewer, and anything but defeat at Kuban next week will mean they have surpassed their tally of 60 points for last season.

Any doubt they are a genuinely good side has been alleviated by their Champions League performances. While they were probably a little fortunate to win at Barcelona, Rubin fully deserved their draw at home against the European champions, and should have beaten Inter. They are still a team that are far greater than the sum of their parts, but that increasingly seems a tribute to their manager, Kurban Berdyev, rather than evidence of the inadequacies of other Russian sides (even if Spartak, Zenit and CSKA have all suffered internal difficulties this season).

The one star Rubin do have, the Argentinian forward Alejandro Domínguez, is only on loan from Zenit, and it is hard to believe they will be able to keep hold of him beyond the end of the season. That raises the spectre of Spartak's experience in 1995, when they won six out of six in the group stage, only to sell four of their best players before the Champions League restarted the following spring, and Rubin have already been linked with a winter move for the Getafe forward Roberto Soldado to replace Domínguez.

In that regard, Rubin can be grateful to Guus Hiddink, who helped hide their talent from acquisitive western European eyes by mystifyingly refusing to select them for the national team. In the mini anti-Hiddink backlash that has followed the playoff defeat to Slovenia, the most telling criticism has been that he has remained too loyal to his Euro 2008 squad.

The Berezutsky twins may be physically imposing, but they have become increasingly error-prone (between them, as one journalist commented recently, they make about half a player), and the problems at CSKA seem to have dragged Sergei Ignashevich down to their level. The flaws at the centre of Russia's defence were evident long before Slovenia's Mile Novakovic and Zlatko Dedic exposed them: was Roman Sharonov, even at 33, not worth a place in the squad?

Hiddink, though, seems distrustful of age. Sergei Semak, also 33, has had another excellent season, yet he was omitted against Germany, was taken off after an hour in the home leg of the play-off and brought on at half-time in the second game – his absences coinciding with Slovenia's periods of control. Yet Hiddink persisted with the 32-year-old Konstatin Zyryanov, who has looked increasingly jaded, while giving Alexander Ryazantsov, who scored Rubin's opening goal in Barcelona, barely a second look.

Given the lack of form and/or playing time of Roman Pavlyuchenko, Pavel Pogrebnyak and Alexander Kerzhakov, it was noted before the Slovenia games that Russia were short of an in-form centre-forward who could play with his back to goal. Hiddink, though, could have turned to Alexander Bukharov, a big, strong leader of the line, who also happens to be the leading Russian scorer in the league this season, but one dead-rubber qualifier away to Azerbaijan apparently was enough to overlook him for the Slovenia games.

Hiddink, of course, has been a hugely positive force for the Russian game, but it is difficult not to wonder whether those who ask whether he can see Kazan from his hotel suite in the Marriott Moscow have a point. Given Russia's inconsistency in qualifying for the Euros, it equally seems fair to wonder whether he needs a protracted spell together with his squad, such as is available before major tournaments, for his genius really to be effective. He would not, of course, be alone in that, and the line of reasoning raises the thought that there is a greater random element to most international football played outside of tournaments than is widely accepted.

The recriminations, though, should not be too bitter, and no progress is ever without its set-backs. Russian football is far, far stronger now than it was when Hiddink took charge almost four years ago, and its strength lies not just in the national team but also in the clubs. After two Uefa Cup successes, the next stage is to reach the last 16 of the Champions League. After all Hiddink has done, the baton has passed to Berdyev.